علوم محیطی (Sep 2024)
Evaluation of the Diversity of Agroecosystems in Afghanistan
Abstract
Introduction: Intensive agricultural systems are mainly monocultures with low sustainability because they neglect the mutual relationships between living organisms and the environment. Intensification in spatiotemporal dimensions and uncontrolled use of external inputs have created ecosystems with less diversity and greater vulnerability. Afghanistan has an agricultural-based economy and the food security of people is mostly dependent on national agricultural production. However, in recent years food production in the country has been threatened due to complicated political conditions. Proper use of biodiversity could enhance crop production in low-input systems. However, so far, no published information is available on this important issue. This study was conducted to evaluate the diversity of Afghanistan's agricultural production at the agroecosystem level. Material and Methods: In order to carry out this research, a countrywide data set was collected. In this research, the required data were extracted through collected questionnaires from 388 counties in 34 provinces of Afghanistan. For this purpose, all provinces and at least 10% of the counties located in each province were selected and evaluated based on the cultivated area of crop species across the provinces. In addition, the national registered information and the data available in the agricultural management centers of the provinces were also used. The existing production systems were differentiated using cluster analysis. The common crop rotations in different provinces were also extracted from the questionnaires and included in the relevant table. Results and Discussion: The results showed that the provinces of Afghanistan are very similar in terms of the proportion of land allocated for cereal crop production. Cluster analysis indicated that the cereals cropping system is practiced across the country. According to the cluster analysis, since cereals have been allocated between a minimum of 41.2% (Maidan Wardak Province) and a maximum of 96.70% (Konar Province) and the agricultural system of Afghanistan is based on the cultivation of cereals especially wheat. Pulse, vegetables, industrial plants and forage crops respectively formed a maximum equal to 14.2%, 55.5%, 33.4%, and 38.2% of the cultivated area of other major agricultural products, respectively in Daikundi, Nimroz, Balkh and Logar provinces. The study of crop rotations showed that in most of the provinces, cereals are the dominant crops and other crops such as pulse, vegetables, industrial plants and forage crops are alternated as second crops along with cereals. Common crop rotations in the country are mainly based on wheat cultivation and do not have much variation among provinces. In addition to irrigated agriculture, dryland farming is also prevalent in this country, which includes 32% of all cultivated lands. Conclusion: The results showed that the agroecosystems of Afghanistan are very similar to the neighboring countries, including Iran, and have been developed based on wheat cultivation. Also, the diversity is relatively poor at the level of agroecosystems, and their management is designed for the development of uniform irrigated agriculture in short-term crop rotations.Also,due to economic problems, agricultural production is managed in the form of low-input systems. Therefore, the most logical solution for poor farmers who do not have access to resources is to increase the level of species and genetic diversity in order to increase production without the need for external inputs.
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